April 2022 (April 2008/2011 redux)

[TT-SEA]

4 minutes ago, Meatyorologist said:

Assuming no further warming, today's 44/32 spread ties the record for all time coldest April day at KSEA! Wow!!!

Even crazier, that record of 38°F was set on the fourth of the month in 1975, whereas today's was set on the 13th! This is beyond record breaking, this is literally tying all time cold figures for this time of year.

Still not quite to the level of crushing all time record high temps... but you have to wonder if there is the opposite extreme coming again down the road.  

[Meatyorologist]

1 minute ago, Deweydog said:

Just made the trip from Oly to home after watching our nephew become a fully-indoctrinated WSP trooper.

Hit four different biblical hailstorms along the way, one of which in Kelso was sending people in all directions, but primarily into the median barrier. 

Got caught in a bad hailstorm just south of Eugene on I5 en route to Crater Lake back in April 2011. Saw multiple cars spin out including a state trooper. We barely escaped that mess... hail is wild on the highway

[The Blob]

Stuck in a traffic with hail. It is muted because I'm sure you don't want to hear my music.

[Meatyorologist]

Just now, TT-SEA said:

Still not quite to the level of crushing all time record high temps... but you have to wonder if there is the opposite extreme coming next again down the road.  

Don't think so wishfully, Tim... Maybe we're just answering for last June 

[TT-SEA]

5 minutes ago, Meatyorologist said:

Don't think so wishfully, Tim... Maybe we're just answering for last June 

Just seems like extremes are more common lately.

[Cascadia_Wx]

10 minutes ago, Meatyorologist said:

Got caught in a bad hailstorm just south of Eugene on I5 en route to Crater Lake back in April 2011. Saw multiple cars spin out including a state trooper. We barely escaped that mess... hail is wild on the highway

Seems impossible since it hasn’t hailed in Eugene since January 1950

[Meatyorologist]

4 minutes ago, TT-SEA said:

Just seems like extremes are more common lately.

It does, doesn't it. It's like something snapped mother nature awake in February 2019 after several years of relative dormancy.

[TT-SEA]

2 minutes ago, Meatyorologist said:

It does, doesn't it. It's like something snapped mother nature awake in February 2019 after several years of relative dormancy.

Low solar leading to more amplified patterns?

[snow_wizard]

Anyone care to speculate where the east winds are coming from in parts of King County?  Almost no surface pressure gradients across the entire region and yet I've had a pretty persistent east wind with gusts into the 20s.  I'm thinking it's wind from the easterly flow aloft surfacing due to convection and downdrafts.  Pretty weird whatever the case.

I would have to think there is almost no way the wind could continue once the sun goes down given the surface gradients.

[Meatyorologist]

5 minutes ago, TT-SEA said:

Low solar leading to more amplified patterns?

Maybe even just random chance? Humans tend to search for patterns when there aren't any to be found.

Hell, the 2019-current day period is an incredibly long amount of time meteorologically speaking. A lot can and will happen during that time span. Even from 2013-2018 there are some anomalous events that could be picked out.

[Meatyorologist]

Just now, snow_wizard said:

Anyone care to speculate where the east winds are coming from in parts of King County?  Almost no surface pressure gradients across the entire region and yet I've had a pretty persistent east wind with gusts into the 20s.  I'm thinking it's wind from the easterly flow aloft surfacing due to convection and downdrafts.  Pretty weird whatever the case.

I would have to think there is almost no way the wind could continue once the sun goes down given the surface gradients.

Cyclonic flow around parent trough to the SW.

[NWbyNW]

27 minutes ago, Deweydog said:

Just made the trip from Oly to home after watching our nephew become a fully-indoctrinated WSP trooper.

Hit four different biblical hailstorms along the way, one of which in Kelso was sending people in all directions, but primarily into the median barrier. 

Congrats on him becoming a Trooper!  That is awesome, proud family.  

Yikes!  Sounds like some crazy hail.  Drive safe out there. 

[snow_wizard]

1 hour ago, Cascadia_Wx said:

Been relatively quiet here today some widely scattered showers and lots of sunbreaks high of 48 so far looks like PDX will be hitting the low 50s.

SEA has certainly put up better numbers than PDX with the cold snap in spite of PDX doing way better for snowfall.  Today was quite exceptional for SEA with a 44/32 spread.

[LowerGarfield]

April 13th and snowing here in Pomeroy, WA. Not sticking yet but has been picking up.

[snow_wizard]

1 minute ago, Meatyorologist said:

Cyclonic flow around parent trough to the SW.

Something made the wind surface though.

[Meatyorologist]

Just now, snow_wizard said:

Something made the wind surface though.

Descending easterlies mixing to the surface. No warming associated with the descending flow because thermal energy went back into re-evaporation.

[snow_wizard]

No doubt for SEA this cold snap handily tops April 2008 and 2011.

[The Blob]

Drove through it twice

[Phil]

38 minutes ago, Meatyorologist said:

Assuming no further warming, today's 44/32 spread ties the record for all time coldest April day at KSEA! Wow!!!

Even crazier, that record of 38°F was set on the fourth of the month in 1975, whereas today's was set on the 13th! This is beyond record breaking, this is literally tying all time cold figures for this time of year.

Lots of Niña/-PNA summers on that list.

[TT-SEA]

Just now, The Blob said:

Drove through it twice

Great video... but Chris is going to have a word with you for filming while driving.  

[Meatyorologist]

7 minutes ago, snow_wizard said:

No doubt for SEA this cold snap handily tops April 2008 and 2011.

Going by average daily temps, it's not even close! Can't beat number one... 

[Meatyorologist]

Got up to a "balmy" 49°F here on the north end. Not as much cloudcover/virga overhead compared to the airport.

[Deweydog]

17 minutes ago, snow_wizard said:

Anyone care to speculate where the east winds are coming from in parts of King County?  Almost no surface pressure gradients across the entire region and yet I've had a pretty persistent east wind with gusts into the 20s.  I'm thinking it's wind from the easterly flow aloft surfacing due to convection and downdrafts.  Pretty weird whatever the case.

I would have to think there is almost no way the wind could continue once the sun goes down given the surface gradients.

There was a fairly decent cross-Cascade gradient during the day today.

[Phil]

43 minutes ago, TT-SEA said:

Still not quite to the level of crushing all time record high temps... but you have to wonder if there is the opposite extreme coming again down the road.  

One could argue this pattern/regime is the “opposite extreme” given the slew of warm/ridgy springs/summers in recent years.

Not sure I’ve ever seen such a consistent Niña background state. Not even 2011 or 2008 can match this insanity. Check out the persistence of the NH subtropical -AAM anomaly.  

[Cascadia_Wx]

21 minutes ago, snow_wizard said:

No doubt for SEA this cold snap handily tops April 2008 and 2011.

It does pretty much region wide. I didn’t get 4” of snow and four consecutive highs in the 40s in April 2008 or 2011.

Edited April 14, 2022 by Cascadia_Wx

[TT-SEA]

8 minutes ago, Phil said:

One could argue this pattern/regime is the “opposite extreme” given the slew of warm/ridgy springs/summers in recent years.

Not sure I’ve ever seen such a consistent Niña background state. Not even 2011 or 2008 can match this insanity. Check out the persistence of the NH subtropical -AAM anomaly.  

Time will tell.    It has not been unusually cold this year until the last few days.    So far... this is just one extreme event. 

[Cascadia_Wx]

27 minutes ago, snow_wizard said:

SEA has certainly put up better numbers than PDX with the cold snap in spite of PDX doing way better for snowfall.  Today was quite exceptional for SEA with a 44/32 spread.

I guess a four inch snowstorm in mid April is a lot more memorable than slightly colder temps. They still had a couple days in the 40s and a record MIN/MAX yesterday.

[Phil]

EPS weeklies show no sign of abating the Niña signature in VP200 anomalies. If anything the signal intensifies a bit.

Of course intraseasonal cycles will be dampened in a 6 week, 52 member ensemble mean, but the low pass signal is still present.

[snow_wizard]

49 minutes ago, The Blob said:

Drove through it twice

The trees are way more leafed out down there than they here.

[snow_wizard]

44 minutes ago, Deweydog said:

There was a fairly decent cross-Cascade gradient during the day today.

The surface gradient isn't like that though.  Flat gradients across the entire state in reality.

[TacomaWaWx]

Rain snow mix again 

[FroYoBro]

1 minute ago, snow_wizard said:

The surface gradient isn't like that though.  Flat gradients across the entire state in reality.

Most likely residual effects from Obama. 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Hit 39 today. Makes 4 straight sub 40 highs. Would love to do that in January! In all seriousness I will have to check to see if we’ve done that in our period of record. 2008 was 3 consecutive,and in 2011 there was only one the whole month. 

[Chewbacca Defense]

1 hour ago, snow_wizard said:

Anyone care to speculate where the east winds are coming from in parts of King County?  Almost no surface pressure gradients across the entire region and yet I've had a pretty persistent east wind with gusts into the 20s.  I'm thinking it's wind from the easterly flow aloft surfacing due to convection and downdrafts.  Pretty weird whatever the case.

I would have to think there is almost no way the wind could continue once the sun goes down given the surface gradients.

 

 

I'm just speculating here.....spitballing really......

 

From the East?

[TT-SEA]

12 minutes ago, snow_wizard said:

The trees are way more leafed out down there than they here.

Trees look about the same as in that video in North Bend and Issaquah and Bellevue from what I have seen the last couple days.

[GHweatherChris]

Moderate snow!!

[Phil]

16 minutes ago, TT-SEA said:

Trees look about the same as in that video in North Bend and Issaquah and Bellevue from what I have seen the last couple days.

The trees have exploded here after 2 days in the 80s. Landscape has completely transformed in just 48hrs. Reminds me of spring 2010 which also turned on a dime (I remember that one distinctly because of what happened earlier that winter, lol).

[TT-SEA]

1 minute ago, Phil said:

The trees have exploded here after 2 days in the 80s. Landscape has completely transformed in just 48hrs. Reminds me of spring 2010 which also turned on a dime (I remember that one distinctly because of what happened earlier that winter, lol).

And on the opposite end... everything has just stopped progressing here.  

[Phil]

6 hours ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

On March 31st I predicted on community Facebook page that we would see significant snow this week... Had to bump that post today...

Better than any prediction I’ve ever made. 

[MossMan]

Just now, TT-SEA said:

And on the opposite end... everything has just stopped progressing here.  

Yeah things came to a halt it seems like. Even my grass growth has slowed down.